VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb 11, 2014) - The Government of Canada's budget today announced an $8M investment over two years to support industrial research and training for postdoctoral fellows through the Mitacs Elevate program. The Government also announced that Mitacs program eligibility will extend to not-for-profit organizations with an economic orientation.

"The Government of Canada has taken two important steps today to promote innovation and productivity in the Canadian economy," said Dr. Arvind Gupta, Mitacs CEO and Scientific Director. "The new funding for Mitacs Elevate addresses Canada's shortage of highly-skilled R&D managers, helping Canadian companies grow from this new infusion of management talent. Just as importantly, Mitacs can now open its programs to eligible not-for-profit organizations, further boosting innovation across the economy."

The new funding for Mitacs Elevate will ensure a national program that provides postdoctoral fellows, exceptional young PhD holders, with career-ready skills in areas such as project management, communication and leadership while they apply their research and business expertise in the real-world with a Canadian company over two years.

The need for postdoctoral fellows with both research expertise and business skills was highlighted recently in a survey commissioned by the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars, in partnership with Mitacs. The survey revealed that over 50% of Canadian postdoctoral fellows have little exposure to non-academic career opportunities and most receive almost no training in competencies required by industry. The full report, released on October 2, 2013, is available here.

In addition to new funding for Elevate, eligible not-for-profit organizations can now conduct R&D with the support of all Mitacs programs, including its flagship Accelerate program. This sector will benefit from the exceptional R&D talent within Canadian universities.

Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit research organization that develops the next generation of innovators with vital scientific and business skills through a suite of unique research and training programs, such as Mitacs Accelerate, Elevate, Step and Globalink. In partnership with companies, government and universities, Mitacs is supporting a new economy using Canada's most valuable resource - its people. For more information on Mitacs, visit www.mitacs.ca.